Monty Bennett’s name will not appear on the ballot for the Tarrant Regional Water District board of directors yet he remains a powerful backstage player whose influence could shape the direction of the district’s business for years to come.

Tommy Uhr has joined the Fort Worth Business Press as an account executive. Uhr is owner of Austin-based Prequalprice LP, a developer of iOS applications for the Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod devices aimed at the residential mortgage consumer and professional. He previously was director of strategy at MaineToday Media, assisting in overall strategy, project management and financial analysis, especially in areas of real estate and finance. From 2004 to 2008, Uhr was a principal at Bongo Technologies, where he was responsible for financial reporting and budgeting as well as overall strategic planning and direction of the company. Prior to Bongo Technologies, he was a mortgage banker with CTX Mortgage in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Uhr received a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Mike Renfro joins Business Press team

Former Texas Christian University football fan-favorite and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Mike Renfro has joined the Fort Worth Business Press as director of business development. Renfro had been working in business development for Fort Worth-based Quicksilver Resources Inc. His post-football career also includes more than 10 years in business development, sales and governmental relations for Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie, where he was instrumental in bringing the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships to the track in 2004. The Breeders’ Cup is an international event that features horse races with a combined $20 million in prize money.

“We are extremely pleased to have an individual with the skills and experience of Mike Renfro join us at the Fort Worth Business Press,” noted Jeff Hooper, vice president of marketing and sales. “Mike knows the people and the culture of Fort Worth, and he will help us to take our customer services to the highest level for our readers and advertisers.”

Prominent members of the Renfro family have been catching footballs around Fort Worth since the early 1940s. Mike’s dad, Ray Renfro, and his uncle, Dean Renfro, starred at North Texas State University and for many more years in the National Football League.

From 1952-1964, Ray Renfro was a four-time world champion all-pro wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns and was considered the fastest man in football. He also coached for the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys. He was the quarterback and receiver coach during Dallas’ first Super Bowl win in 1972. (Mike Renfro was the water boy for the Cowboys that season and wears his father’s Super Bowl ring today.)

Dean Renfro played for the Baltimore Colts and was also the receivers’ coach at TCU during Mike’s playing days for the Horned Frogs. Mike’s two brothers also played college football, and Clint Renfro, one of Mike’s two sons, was a conference champion hurdler for the Frogs track team. Mike also had a nephew and two cousins play college football.

After starring at Arlington Heights High School and TCU, Mike Renfro was chosen in the 1978 NFL draft by Bum Phillips and the Houston Oilers. Renfro caught balls from quarterback greats Dan Pastorini, Kenny Stabler and Archie Manning while a member of the Oilers. Renfro also was involved in one of the most controversial plays in NFL playoff history. A Pastorini pass to Renfro for an apparent touchdown in the 1980 championship game against the Pittsburg Steelers was incorrectly overturned and ruled not a catch, costing the Oilers a chance for victory and a trip to the Super Bowl. The play was cited as the impetus for league-wide instant replay in the NFL, which was instituted soon thereafter. In 1984, Mike Renfro was traded to the Dallas Cowboys, where he played under head coach Tom Landry. Renfro was named the team’s most valuable player after the 1985 season and played for the Cowboys until his retirement from the NFL in 1988.

Banking & Finance

Smith & Associates, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. for the past 24 years, has changed its name to Clearfork Wealth Management. The firm employs four financial advisers and five associates, with offices at 6211 Southwest Blvd. in Fort Worth.

Bords & Organizations

Quicksilver Resources Inc. elected Michael McGovern to its board for a term to expire in 2013. McGovern serves as executive adviser to Cadent Energy Partners LLC. He also is on the boards of GeoMet Inc., Long Run Exploration Ltd., Array Holdings Inc., Sonneborn Inc. and Cactus Wellhead LLC. He was director of Tronox Inc. from April 2008 to January 2011.

He also was the chief executive officer of Pioneer Companies Inc. from 2002 to 2007, including two years as the chairman. He has been involved in the energy industry since 1975, primarily as the CEO of these public companies: Pioneer Companies Inc., Coho Energy Inc., Edisto Resources Corp., Convest Energy, Ironstone Group Inc. (formerly OXOCO Inc.), and American National Petroleum Co. McGovern received a bachelor’s degree in business from Centenary College.

The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association recently installed new officers during the closing session of the 136th Annual Cattle Raisers Convention in Fort Worth. Pete Bonds was elected first vice president and Eldon White of Fort Worth is executive vice president. Bonds operates the Bonds Ranch headquartered in Saginaw. He became a TSCRA director in 1992 and was elected second vice president in 2011.

The University of Texas at Arlington has appointed Jim Bradley, a senior technology administrator at Tulane University, as vice president for information technology and chief information officer. He joined Tulane in 2010 after 23 years with the University of Houston. He also previously worked for the Bechtel Energy Corp. Bradley begins his appointment May 1. He succeeds Maurice Leatherbury, who is retiring after serving as vice president of IT and CIO since 2010. Bradley graduated from South Texas College of Law and earned an MBA from the University of Saint Thomas. He earned his undergraduate degree in history from the University of Houston. At Tulane, Bradley leads the Campus Information Technology and Academic Computing Department, which delivers comprehensive technology solutions for the university’s Uptown Campus, the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, among other areas. At UT-Arlington, Bradley will lead a team of 146 staff members and manage a budget of $19 million.

Engineering

Baird, Hampton & Brown Inc., a multi-discipline engineering firm headquartered in Fort Worth, now offers landscape architecture design services as part of its portfolio. Tom Kellogg brings 30 years of landscape design experience and serves as director of landscape architecture. Kellogg has practiced in Texas, South Carolina and Oklahoma.

Health Care

Texas Health Resources made the following executive advancements: Brett McClungwill becomeexecutive vice president/North Zone operations leader, effective May 1. In his new role, McClung will work with Dr. Elizabeth Ransom, executive vice president/North Zone clinical leader, to direct Texas Health’s operational and clinical initiatives in their geographic area. McClung is currently president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth. Joseph DeLeon willbecomepresident of that hospital on May 1. DeLeon currently is vice president of professional and support services, cardiovascular services and business development at Texas Health Fort Worth. Ramona Osburn has been promoted tovice president of behavioral healthfor THR. She will be responsible for alignment, integration and standardization of behavioral health services. Osburn is senior director of Texas Health Springwood Hospital HEB and Texas Health Seay Behavioral Health Center in Plano.

Cathy Neece Brown, a certified fundraising executive and fundraiser in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1996, has been named vice president for development at the James L. WestAlzheimer Center in Fort Worth. She spent the past four years as vice president for development and marketing for the Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County. Brown spent more than 10 years in educational fundraising, having served as the vice president for advancement and capital campaign director at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University. While there, she directed the seminary’s $21 million capital campaign and annual fund and major gift solicitations for TCU’s M.J. Neeley School of Business, Harris College of Nursing, School of Education and library. She was director of development for the Dallas Zoological Society from 2002 to 2004 and previous to that was in the marketing department of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club. She serves on the Endowment Committee for the Downtown Fort Worth Rotary Club, the board of the Cultural District Alliance (Fort Worth), the advisory board for Trinity Episcopal Pre-School and the board of the Fort Worth Metro Chapter of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals. She was president of the Fort Worth Junior Woman’s Club and has board memberships with Leadership Fort Worth, the Fort Worth Junior League and Downtown Fort Worth Rotary Club.

Honors & Awards

The Dallas Fort Worth Association Executives (DFWAE) named Dana Glazier, director of grant management at United Way of Tarrant County, as the winner of its 2013 Award of Excellence. She has been a member of DFWAE since 2004, participated on the conference planning committee in 2007, and became a member of the board in 2008. Glazier currently serves her second term as secretary. As an active participant in DFWAE, Glazier helped find a new content management system for the organization’s website, spearheaded membership research and set up Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.

Joseph P. Castronovo, a senior project manager for AECOM in Fort Worth, has been awarded the Stephen D. Bechtel Pipeline Engineering Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers for his numerous contributions over the years to pipeline engineering and his many years of service to ASCE’s Pipeline Division.

Cantey Hanger LLP has been awarded re-certification in Meritas, a global alliance of business law firms. Cantey Hanger joined Meritas in 1999 and as a condition of its membership is required to complete re-certification every three years. Meritas membership is by invitation only. Firms are regularly assessed and re-certified for the breadth of their practice expertise and client satisfaction.

Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford has been named a Cycle IV Chest Pain Center – the highest accreditation possible for treatment of chest pain – and received a full Heart Failure Accreditation by the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care.

Hospitality

Cheryl Forberg, a James Beard award-winning chef, bestselling author and nutritionist for NBC’s The Biggest Loser, has joined Omni Hotels & Resorts culinary team as the luxury hotel brand’s in-house nutritionist. Working directly with Omni’s executive chefs and culinary leaders, Forberg will help develop new menu items, expand healthful dining options and introduce a new kids’ menu.

Nonprofit Organizations

Alicia Fannon has been named vice president of north region lending for AccionTexas Inc., covering the markets of Amarillo, Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock and Wichita Falls. Fannon most recently was the executive director of the William Mann Jr. Community Development Corp. in Fort Worth. Prior to that, she served as the manager of loan production for One Hour Acceptance Financial Inc. in Bedford. Fannon has been a strong supporter of nonprofit small business resource providers, including the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center. She is a regular presenter on small business financing throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. She is a member of several community development organizations, including the North Texas Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, the Accounting Advisory Board for Tarrant County College, the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Central Arkansas.